Configure simplified left navigation

---
title: Configure simplified left navigation
description: Simplified navigation helps use an intuitive navigation for better information architecture and topic discovery.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/employee-service-management/employee-experience-foundation/config-simplified-nav-as-menu.html
release: australia
product: Employee Experience Foundation
classification: employee-experience-foundation
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Simplified Navigation, Advanced Portal Navigation, Setup Employee Center browse experience features, Configuring Employee Center, Employee Center, EmployeeWorks, Employee Service Management]
---

# Configure simplified left navigation

Simplified navigation helps use an intuitive navigation for better information architecture and topic discovery.

## Before you begin

Before you start, ensure that you understand the useful information available in [EC Information architecture](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/employee-service-management/employee-experience-foundation/ec-information-architecture.md).

Role required: Admin and SP Admin

## About this task

Using advanced portal navigation, you can enable single-click sync across all APN hierarchy levels, replacing level-by-level sync. You can design the primary navigation menu and configure the navigation setup as per employee needs and content priorities.

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Employee Center** > **Advanced Portal Navigation**.

2.  Click **New** to create a new record or view the list of the available APN records.

3.  Select **Active** to replace the current Employee Center with the new navigation menu.

4.  Fill in the form as explained in [Configure advanced portal navigation](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/employee-service-management/employee-experience-foundation/config-adv-portal-nav-as-menu.md) and select **Navigation style** as **Side**.

    **Note:** On selecting side, you can see an option to specify **Default icon** and related list also shows **Menu icon** as shown in the following image.

    \[Omitted image "simplified-navigation-top-side-selection.png"\] Alt text: How to select navigation style and icons on Advanced Portal Navigation record and menu items related list

    **Note:** When you don't select the icon, the default icon is displayed.

5.  Use the default or change the icon from the **Navigation menu item** related list.

    \[Omitted image "simplified-navigation-menu-items.png"\] Alt text: navigation menu items

6.  Use one of the options to create a new or fetch the existing hierarchy.

    1.  Click **New** to create or add from the available list.

    2.  Click **Sync hierarchy** to fetch existing items.

7.  Click **Save**.


## Result

Simplified navigation record is saved. Your employees can view the new left navigation from Employee Center.